Sunday, October 3, 2010

Christmas Yarn Ornaments

Um...I realize it's just the beginning of October, but we happen to have a baby due to arrive just 4 days before Christmas this year so I am trying to get a little jump-start on Christmas activities. I mean...it's true that I have about 5,000 things that are probably a little more pressing than Christmas crafts, but sometimes you just need to play with yarn.

I love yarn! Problem is I am not great at crocheting and even worse knitting. But since we've been doing this house remodel I have been envisioning our December with snow on the ground, and our little family warm inside with with nubby, fuzzy, soft yarn sprinkled here and there.

Fingers crossed our fireplace is finished by then!

For now, here is a yarn wrapped Christmas ornament that I made. I realized last year that with a curious 2-year-old running around, anything on the bottom 3 feet of the tree better be indestructible and safe for little hands. These fuzzy yarn ornaments are perfect! Avery is already toting them around the house.

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To make, you will need: yarn (any kind will do, but thicker yarn will make for quicker work), foam balls (or if you have some old ornaments you're not so fond of anymore, you could easily re-purpose them instead), tacky glue, wire ornament hangers (2 for each ball you make), and scissors.

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Take one wire ornament hanger, straighten it, and then bend it into a "v" shape

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Next, push it into the foam ball and cover the top half-ish of the ball with glue (don't be shy with the glue), making sure to glue around wire.

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Place the end of the yarn in between the wire.

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Then start wrapping around the wire.

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...and keep wrapping, ensuring the yarn is adhering to the glue (Don't worry if a little glue seeps through...it will dry clear),

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until you get about halfway down.

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Then flip 'er upside down and holding the wire, and cover the rest of the ball with glue,

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and keep wrapping!

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When you get near the end, cut your yarn leaving a little tail, and then poke the tail straight down into the glue so that end of yarn is secure.

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That's it! Use your other ornament hook to hang from the tree.

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And once you start wrapping yarn around things it might be hard to stop...
it was for me.

More yarn ideas tomorrow!

23 comments:

  1. darling! how many you gonna make?

    maybe i just missed it but, why do you need two hooks for each ornament? all i can see is one at the top?

    love you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One is in other end. Pushed into the ball. To start from. It holds the yarn in place.

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  2. To hang it from the tree!

    Probably just the 5 in the photo;) just kidding. Avery LOVES them! So hopefully we'll make lots.

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  3. Just beautiful Danielle, every ball and tree is perfect.
    Avery is looking so grown up!ox, Mom

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  4. How cute! I love this idea :)

    Also, it drives me crazy when people start preparing for Christmas before Thanksgiving even happens, but you've got a good reason so I won't be mad at you, lol :)

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  5. Found you through Prudent Baby and we love these. Cute idea and very easy. We'll be crafting these at our house.

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  6. Danielle! Your creativity ALWAYS tickles my fancy. I adore your style. Thanks for sharing :)

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  7. I just found your blog and I'm in love!! I had a Christmas baby two years ago - I was worried about the timing, but it turned out so lovely. Now that she's almost two, these ornaments are a perfect idea. I think I'll be on a yarn hunt today!

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  8. I can't wait to go to the craft store tomorrow morning to buy yarn! These are so cute and my 2 year old is going to love them too! Thanks for the great ideas! I'm so glad I found your blog!

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  9. i'm completely addicted! therapeutic for sure.

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  10. This will be perfect for all the little bits of yarn I have left over. I just hate to throw scraps left over out.

    Thanks for the great ideas!

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  11. I was looking for something else when I came upon your blog...I love these cute yarn ball ornaments!! I have all of the materials too! Cool!

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  12. I'm waing to make this craft more earthy-what do u think about using twine?

    Also-I've not as much experience as you-do you like glue or starch better?

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  13. Hello!

    I featured your tutorial in my blog http://goodthings88.blogspot.com/2011/12/diy-christmas.html

    Thanks so much, I had a lot of fun making it :)

    Happy holidays!
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  14. Fab I know what I'm going to do with all my surplus wool.

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  15. Fab I know what I'm going to do with all my surplus wool.

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  16. I can't believe how awesome your yarn ornaments are! My daughter will be two next month, and we haven't really had a Christmas tree yet. So I'm excited about this non-fragile, super cute ornament!!!! :)

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  19. Love your blog and this project - so creative and fun! Just wanted to let you know I featured it in my roundup of glass ornament crafts here. Feel free to check it out if you want and hope you like it! : )

    -Mel the Crafty Scientist

    ReplyDelete
  20. I wonder how it would work out if you wound two strings at a time next to each other, like red and white or something like that. I think I will try it! Also, I have been thinking of making some fake ice cream cone ornaments, these balls would work great for the ice cream! I can make them in different colors and maybe add some glued on seed beads for sprinkles...so many ideas, so little time ;)

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  21. I didn't quite have the patience for this. I found it quite tricky, and about halfway through started getting glue on my fingers through the yarn, and it was all downhill from there. Yarn was sticky to me more than the styrofoam... They are super cute though, and I'm sure that some with more patience that is willing to be very careful could probably do better than me! But I think I'll leave this one to you, you did it very well!
    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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